Forecasters put the odds of acceptable conditions at 70 percent. The sky was fairly clear as the launch team began pumping fuel Tuesday afternoon.

Discovery is bound for the international space station. It will haul up thousands of pounds of supplies, including six mice for a bone experiment and a treadmill named for Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert.

S.C. retiree wins $260M Powerball prize

COLUMBIA, S.C. - A retired South Carolina state employee who spent two bucks on the lottery last week is the winner of a $260 million Powerball jackpot.

Solomon Jackson Jr. of Columbia refused Tuesday to say much about himself or his plans, including whether he will take his winnings annually over three decades or in a $129 million lump sum.

Jackson did reveal he was an assistant supervisor for the state Revenue Department who retired in 2000. He said he is married but would not say how many children he has.

SAT scores dip for class of 2009

Through the early 1990s and early 2000s, average scores on the SAT college entrance exam moved steadily upward. Now, for the last five years, they've been drifting back down.

The reason? Unlike on the multiple-choice sections of the test itself, there's no one right answer. But a big factor is the larger, more diverse group of students taking the tests, combined with a widening scoring gap between the best-performing groups and those whose numbers are growing fastest.

Results released Tuesday show the high school class of 2009 earned a combined score of 1509 on the three sections of the exam, down two points from last year. The average reading and writing scores dropped one point each, while math scores held steady.

Prosecutor: Crime scene at church 'horrific'

ANADARKO, Okla. - The crime scene inside a small Pentecostal church where a pastor was slain was the most brutal he has seen in nearly 20 years as a prosecutor, the local district attorney said Tuesday.

Police have released scant information about the killing of 61-year-old Carol Daniels, whose body was found Sunday inside the Christ Holy Sanctified Church, a weather-beaten building on a rundown block near downtown Anadarko.

'I've prosecuted over 50 murders,' District Attorney Bret Burns said. 'This is the most horrific crime scene I've ever witnessed.' He declined to elaborate, saying he did not want to jeopardize the investigation.

Man to stand trial in 4 rapes

MURRIETA, Calif. - A Southern California man will stand trial in the rapes of four women, including one alleged victim who authorities said bit off the tongue of her attacker.

The Riverside County district attorney's office said Monday that a judge in Murrieta ordered 32-year-old Ronald Douglas McGowan to trial after a preliminary hearing on 12 felony counts, including rape, forcible rape, assault with a deadly weapon and assault causing serious bodily injury.

Police: Man used cab as getaway after robbing bank

ROSELLE, N.J. - Police said a New Jersey man who told a cab driver to stop at a bank so he could take out some money failed to mention that he was going to rob it.

Michael Restaino Jr. of Linden was arrested shortly afterward Monday when a Roselle police officer stopped the cab he was riding in several blocks from the Roselle Savings Bank.

3 dead in barn after standoff in northeast Tenn.

MOORESBURG, Tenn. - Authorities were investigating a possible murder-suicide on Tuesday after three people were found dead in a barn in rural northeastern Tennessee following a standoff with police.

District Attorney General Berkeley Bell Jr. told the Citizen Tribune newspaper in Morristown that those found dead were Darran Blevins, his ex-stepfather, Dennis Christian, and Christian's live-in girlfriend, Brandy Seal.